Vancouver man appears in court in assault, burglary case

The Vancouver man accused of walking into a Camas home, struggling with the resident and shooting her with a BB gun made his first court appearance Monday.

Dontae Jaray Smith, 19, faces charges of first-degree burglary and second-degree assault in connection to the Thursday incident.

A woman was at her home, 1447 N.W. Eighth Ave., and talking on the phone with a friend when Smith walked into her house at about 10:30 p.m., according to court documents filed in the case. The front door of the house was open but the screen door was closed, police said.

Smith pointed the BB gun at the woman’s face and stepped toward her, court documents state. The woman yelled at her friend to call 911, dropped the phone and grabbed the barrel of the gun with both hands, according to court documents.

Smith and the woman wrestled over the gun, which discharged and shot the woman in the hand, court records state.

The woman said that Smith then slapped her and slammed her head into the sheetrock wall, according to court documents.

Smith then ran out the front door and police found him a few blocks away still holding the BB gun in his hands, according to the documents.

Smith told police he walked to Camas from the Vancouver mall area to play a BB shooting game with his friend and that “he hadn’t been in any house,” documents said.

Upon further questioning, Smith became upset and asked for an attorney, according to the document.

Judge Suzan Clark set Smith’s bail at $50,000. He is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges on Friday.